Recollections of Service in the Bureau and RAAF
Foreword
Recollections—Mascot and Rose Bay—the Early Years
Sojourn in the Far East 1942
References
Endnotes
Index
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I first met Keith Hannay in September 1940 in Sydney when I was en route for service as a meteorological officer in Port Moresby. Shortly afterwards Keith arrived in Port Moresby as OIC of our office and we worked together until Keith was posted for service in Khota Baru on the eve of the bombing of Malaya, Pearl Harbour, Thailand , the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong and Wake Island which were attacked in December 1941. During our year together in Port Moresby we joined the RAAF, first with honorary commissions which were later confirmed.
The second of the two articles in this volume tells the remarkable story of Keith's trip to Singapore; his brief service there and his remarkable adventures as he and his meteorological colleagues managed to avoid capture by the rapidly advancing Japanese forces, eventually returning safely to Perth.
Subsequently Keith served with the RAAF at Broome, Townsville, Darwin, RAAF Command Brisbane and Sydney before being demobilised with the rank of Squadron Leader in 1946.
Back in the Bureau of Meteorology Keith had a distinguished career as OIC Mascot, Senior Meteorologist in Sydney Regional Office, Supervising Meteorologist in Head Office Melbourne and from 1959 to 1976 as Regional Director, Victoria. During his postwar career Keith represented the Bureau in international meteorological conferences both in Australia and overseas.
Bureau colleagues who knew Keith's family have pleasant memories of their association with his wife Anetta and their seven children. Keith and Anetta moved from Melbourne to Coopers Shoot (near Byron Bay) in 1983 where they shared a happy retirement until Anetta's untimely death in January 1992.
W J Gibbs
Melbourne, June 1994
People in Bright Sparcs - Gibbs, William James (Bill); Hannay, Alexander Keith (Keith)
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
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